In total, there was a wide range of punishments meted out to Christians who accepted Jesus as their Savior and refused to sacrifice.Īnimals were condemned to death in a common sentence for all types of criminals. Trajan’s letter effectively expresses the Roman state‘s policy toward Christians, which was in effect similar to the ancient “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule, which lasted until 250 AD. Christians were unpopular with Roman provincials because they felt uneasy or threatened by Christians in their communities. There is no evidence that these Christians were systematically harassed or imprisoned solely for their faith in ancient history. Christians were punished by a lack of structured, planned policy in the first three centuries of the Bible.

This gruesome scenario has been ingrained into popular culture by Henryk Sienkiewicz’s Quo Vadis (1895). The image of Christians huddled together in an arena awaiting their deaths as a defining image of Roman religious persecution is a symbol of that era. Ultimately, whether or not Christians were actually sent to the lions in the Colosseum remains a mystery, but it is certainly possible that this was a reality for some during the Roman Empire.

Additionally, there are accounts of Christians being fed to lions in other parts of the empire, which lends credence to the idea that this practice may have also occurred in Rome. For example, many Christians were persecuted and killed by the Romans during this time period, and it is known that Christians were sometimes forced to participate in public executions in the Colosseum. However, there is some circumstantial evidence that suggests that this may have been a reality for some Christians living in Rome during the height of the empire. No definitive answer exists to whether or not the Roman Empire actually sent Christians to the lions in the Colosseum, as there is no concrete historical evidence to support the claim.

What is the roman colosseum called